NEW RELEASES

Brooklin Models has just released two new Volvo Amazon break models under their Rob Eddie label. The two white metal models are based on the old RE 10 castings. These have however been upgraded with added strips down the side, wipers and door handles. The models are painted in two new colors and each is decorated with humble decals to represent service cars of the gasoline companies ESSO and Koppartrans. Both cars have exclusively been made for Rob Eddie AB in Sweden ( Robeddie Modellbilar, Odengatan 38, S-113 51 Stockholm, Tel : +46 86124776 )

Editions Altaya has launched a second Taxi Collection. There will be once again a Volvo model. They choose this time to offer a Volvo 145 instead of the Volvo 144 from the first run of the Taxi Collection. The Volvo represents once again a cab as it was used in Stockholm, Sweden. The 1:43 scale diecast model is made by Ixo. This model will be available in France, Spain and Portugal. I presume that it will be released at a later date in other countries.

ModelCarWorld has released today the Volvo 144 by WhiteBox. This 1:43 scale model is made by IXO. The diecast model is painted a light blue metallic and features a black interior. They pretend that it represents a car from 1966. It is a limited edition run of 1008 pieces. The model is available for 21.95 € under item number 186675. The car is packed in a white and black cardboard window box. The same Volvo 144 has previously been available in various colors and packaging versions as well as under different brands and labels.Source & copyright : modelcarworld.de

The Bulgarian company Griffin Models which is well known for her excellent Saab scale models has decided to do also models of the other Swedish car maker – Volvo.

Their first project will be the Volvo VESC. This model has never been offered before. The Volvo VESC – Volvo Experimental Safety Car was a safety vehicle which was built back in 1972. Many features of that car served as base for the 200 series.

The 1:43 scale model will be made of resin. It is not yet clear if the model will be offered as kit, as rtr model or in both versions. My guess is that a small run of rtr models will be offered. Prices are not yet given since this depends largely on the final number of parts needed for making this model.

Personal note : I can tell from my personal experience that the kits offered by Griffin Models are of a remarkable quality. I received last year a kit of the Saab 900 Enduro "Steroid Poppin' Swede" and I was positively surprised. We can expect a highly detailed model.

Background infos regarding the Volvo VESC :

Quote from an article released by Volvo :

2012-04-25

40 YEARS SINCE VESC WAS SHOWN – STARTED SAFETY FOCUS ERA AT VOLVOThe Volvo safety vehicle VESC – Volvo Experimental Safety Car – has played a major role in creating Volvo's safety image and it is now forty years since it was first shown. VESC was Volvo's contribution to a safety debate that was going on at the time and that had been initiated by the US Department of Transportation, DOT.

DOT commissioned four companies to develop and build a safety vehicle each, to specified properties and standards. Much higher than those that were the standard of the day. The project, in turn, was part of the international cooperation for better traffic safety that had been started in 1970 by the US authority NHTSA – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Safety was nothing new to Volvo. The work on improving passenger safety when travelling in cars was part of the very original idea of the company. Volvo's biggest single contribution to world traffic safety, however, was no doubt the introduction of the three-point safety belt, standard-fitted to Volvo cars from 1959 and a world first. This belt type and geometry is still the standard for every car in the world today.

ESV means Experimental Safety Vehicle and this programme was built up on the idea that selected car manufacturers worked together on different projects on vehicle safety. Authorities, legislators and the automotive business met once a year to exchange ideas and experiences around safety, to the benefit of world traffic safety situation.

Most safety vehciles that were the result of the ESV challenge were heavy, cumbersome and ugly-looking. Volvo, however, made a passenger car which deviated only slightly from what the cars of the early 1970s looked like.

Work on the safety vehicle had started already in 1969, before the ESV requirements were known, and the basis for that was the stillborn 1560-project – the planned next big car from Volvo, but killed off due to rising fuel prices and the risk of an acute shortage of oil. The VESC therefore weighed only half of its "safety vehicle competitors". Although large and heavy-looking today, it nevertheless featured the same level of passenger safety as the even bigger and more expensive contemporaries, and included a lot of new and innovative technology. Some of them were passed on to future production cars. When the Volvo 240 was lauched two years later, it carried a lot of the VESC contents, looks and heritage.

The list of VESC safety lots of new technology: airbags for all passengers, crash activated head restraints, anti-lock brakes, protective beams in doors, built-in roll-over bar, telescopic bumpers, headlamp washers/wipers, reversing camera, the latter a feature which the US authorities is about to make compulsory through legislation.VESC was publicly shown for the first time in May 1972 when Volvo was invited to Transpo 72, a big transportation exhibition in Washington D.C. The VESC became the vehicle where all existing Volvo in-house safety features, ideas and concepts were brought together and used, plus some brand new ones. Three cars were built, and one of these can still be seen in Volvo Museum.

Another vital element that differed Volvo from the other makers was the work around active safety, not just passive i.e. crash safety. This meant thorough attention to vehicle dynamics such as brakes, suspension and steering; how the car behaved during evasive manoeuvres and in critical situations in order to avoid collisions. Here, weight is no advantage. This, among other things meant that the VESC got a lot of appreciation from the American authorities and Volvo's position as a leading manufacturer of safe vehicles was further strengthened.

If you want to read more about the ESV vehicles in general and the VESC in particular, Swedish motor journalist Fredrik Nyblad has recently published a book on the subject called "Krasch". It is currently only available in Swedish but an English version is in the planning. Visit the homepage of Trafik-Nostalgiska Förlaget www.tnf.se

Neo Scale Models will provide Model Car World once again with a model in a special and limited color. The newly announced model will be a 1:43 replica of the Volvo Amazon Coune convertible. The resin model will be available in blue in a limited run of only 300 pieces. You can reserve your model under item # 185703.

Neo Limited Models has announced the Volvo Amazon Coune convertible this spring during the Toy Fair in Nürnberg (D). The first regular release will be painted gray. An exact release date has not yet been communicated.

Bo André from andrecarmodels.com has released this August a newly decorated model. His latest model represent a 1966 Volvo P210 Duett decorated as BM service car. BM stands for Bolinder Munktell which was a well known tractor manufacturer. Volvo began a cooperation with BM back in the 1940's and finally acquired Bolinder Munktell in 1950. The company changed later twice their name : it became Volvo BM AB in 1973 and Volvo Construction Equipment in 1995.

And a second new Volvo Duett should be ready in a few weeks. Estimated time of arrival is the 2nd half of November 2013. This one will be decorated as SJ service car. SJ is the shortcut of the Swedish State railway company.